The present invention relates to an apparatus for mechanically processing dried material, preferably, but not exclusively, organic material, of the type in which at least one rotor and one contrast element, functionally associated to the rotor, perform a mechanical action of compression, stretch and/or shear, also through impact, on the organic materials to be processed. Said apparatus is particularly indicated for the extraction of matrices containing active principles starting from organic materials, for example of vegetable origin, in the dry state.
It is to be noted that hereinafter by the term “material in the dry state” or “dried material” is meant any material, of organic or mineral origin, which is substantially devoid of water and may undergo mechanical processing by compression, stretch and/or shear, within a purposely designed apparatus, so that matrices with different principles may be obtained and classified following upon said mechanical processing. A large number of apparatuses are known for the mechanical processing of organic, or inorganic, materials in the dehydrated state, which, via compression, stretch or shear of the materials processed, can for example perform functions of reduction of the starting material into elementary fibres, by shredding, grinding or pulverizing thereof, and extraction of matrices containing just the principles that it is desired to obtain.
At the end of the mechanical processing of the starting materials, there can follow steps of further classification of the mechanically processed materials and possible steps of chemical and/or thermal processing.
The U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,254, filed in the name of Rohlinger, teaches how to obtain a pulverizer for materials of any kind, in which a cylindrical rotor with radial blades is set within a casing that functions as contrast element for the action of the rotor. The casing has an input section for introduction of the starting material that is shaped in such a way as to enable inflow of said material in a position corresponding to the axis of the rotor.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,528, filed in the name of Ronning, describes a mechanical fractioning device for dry organic materials, in which a cylindrical rotor with radial blades acts within a casing, which has an input section for introduction of the starting material that is set in such a way as to enable inflow of the material in a radial direction with respect to the rotor.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,435,433, filed in the name of Hesch, relates to a device for disintegrating substances and compounds comprising fibres, having a casing within which is set a rotor equipped with radial blades arranged in such a way as to define a cavity, within which the material to be processed is received.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,923, filed in the name of Gruenewald, relates to a device for the mechanical processing of fibrous materials, in which two counter-rotating rollers within a purposely designed casing compress between them the material that flows in a direction orthogonal to the axes of the two rollers.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,631,862, filed in the name of Schilling, describes an apparatus for disintegrating organic material, in which a rotor has a number of arms parallel to the axis of the rotor and with an indented side surface, which rotate within a circular stator. The stator is also provided with an indented internal surface that is set facing the surface of the arms, with a certain gap between arms and stator. The apparatuses of the known art, an overview of which is provided above without any claim to being exhaustive, are subject to a certain number of drawbacks and disadvantages.
In the first place, the known apparatuses present a considerable rigidity of use, proving suitable only for a certain type of starting material, but far from adaptable to materials having physical characteristics different from the ones for which the apparatus was devised.
Furthermore, apparatuses of the known art are far from suitable for producing, from the starting material, classifiable matrices, i.e., matrices of products in which the various principles that are intended to be obtained following upon processing are well separated or separable.
In the case, then, where the apparatuses known to the art are used for the extraction of matrices containing active principles, of the type for example usable in the pharmaceutical, cosmetics or foodstuffs fields, starting from organic materials in the dry state, it is found that the matrices obtained starting from said known apparatuses do not have a high degree of purity of the active principles, and likewise that said active principles contained in the matrices do not present a good stability. In addition, the use of the known apparatuses for obtaining matrices with active principles entails the generation of a high amount of waste of the starting material.